Pictures
by BeautifulBabeForever
Summary: What if someone photographed activities that you thought were private? What would be the fall out for the one that you supposedly love? This is a story about friendship and will probably need a tissue warning. There will be a Happy Ending for Steph.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just have fun with them.**

**This one was a request that kind of took on a life of it's own. I didn't intend for it to come out so sad in the end, but it did. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Thanks Margaret.**

'Pictures'

I had heard quiet murmurs for a few days, but wasn't quite sure that I believed them. After all, for certain people I had hoped that they wouldn't be true at least. Who knew this could actually be true? I like to listen to what people say, but believing and seeing were two different things. How could someone have everyone so snowed with their true nature? I guess that saying is true, 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' The Morelli family was not known for its men being saints, but Joe had managed to avoid the curse, or at least that is what most people thought.

As I pulled into the Motel parking lot I saw his SUV in the back along with a silver BMW. Although neither car was seen from the road it didn't seem like they were trying to hide that they were here, together. I had spoken with the desk manager of the motel and gotten the room number and that they had already been here for a few hours. A little intimidation goes a long way. I pulled out my camera and walked quickly, but very quietly, to the door. The curtains were open slightly and I was able to get a few good shots. Their faces were clearly seen and the fact that they didn't have on any clothes was clear as day. No one would be able to deny this, not even his own mother.

A little while later I heard some of their conversation as they exited the room making plans to meet up later that night with someone else. Something seemed off about this. I had heard some things that I had dismissed, knowing what a good cop he was, no matter how much of a piece of shit he was personally. He had always seemed like a good cop.

Heading back to my usual job I thought about the implications of, not only what I had seen, but heard as well. His 'relationship' with Steph was a cover. Since she was constantly in the middle of whatever drama was happening it was easy for people to focus on her and not him. Well, as far as a cover and distraction it was brilliant, but it wasn't something that I was going to let happen any longer. This son of a bitch was going to pay for using her.

XXXXXX

After work, and after quite a bit of thinking I made my way to the location I had heard earlier so that I could be in place before any of the people involved were to arrive. Pulling out my camera again I added an extra lens so I could get a clearer view of what took place. The longer I sat there the more I prayed what I knew was going to happen would all be a dream. So many people were going to be hurt over this, mainly Steph though. I hated being responsible for having her find out. I didn't want her to hate me, as well as him. No matter what people thought of me I would do anything for her.

With cars pulling into the lot I rolled down my window so that I could get a better view with the camera. I had placed a few microphones around so I could listen as well, and made sure to push the ear buds into my ears one last time. I knew I couldn't make a sound, and had made sure that I was well hidden from anyone's eyes. I saw them exit the vehicles and noticed that Vito had a briefcase. Morelli, Gillman and Vito approached each other taking in their surroundings quickly before conducting their business. I saw and heard the conversation and was completely stunned by what I was learning.

The exchange took only minutes, but the view of what was really happening was truly horrific. Morelli took the briefcase shook hands with Vito, kissed Terry and then walked back over to his car to leave. The pictures were bad enough, but the conversation that was overheard was what really made me think that no one really knew the true Joe Morelli. Well, that was all about to change.

XXXXXX

After printing the pictures on my home computer I separated them into several different piles. Stuffing them into the pre-addressed envelopes with prepaid postage I was all set to get this done. I couldn't watch her be hurt any more, and I wouldn't allow it. A short walk to the post office and I dropped the envelopes off that would start a ball rolling that would not soon be stopped. Each envelope would change the person or person's views for good. The envelopes were addressed to Steph, Helen Plum, Angie Morelli, Chief of Police, TPD at large, and Rangeman Inc. The only one that weighed more than the rest was to the Chief since it contained a copy of the conversation that I heard.

Life around here would be changing that was for sure.

XXXXXX

(One week later)

The Burg' grapevine has been on fire today, and everyone was up in arms. 'How could something like this have happened and no one know about it?' 'How was it that a prized cop with the TPD could have turned bad?' they all asked. Morelli was arrested yesterday from his home and right in front of Stephanie. From what I heard she had just arrived and they were about to have some kind of talk on his front porch when the cops arrived to take him into custody. The Merry Men arrived at the same time and whisked her away from his house before anyone could ask any questions.

The grapevine was letting rumor fly that Stephanie was the one that took the pictures, that they were fakes and his name was being dragged through the mud. However when word that the pictures were dated and Stephanie had been working at Rangeman when the photos were taken had calmed them down some. The talk then turned to what a disgrace Morelli was to his family and community. No one had seen Angie or Bella Morelli since the arrest and I would be surprised if they would come out in public anytime soon. The phone at the bonds office was absolutely ringing off the hook, and none of it was about business so far today.

I watched as Stephanie walked in the door to the bonds office in the middle of the afternoon and could tell that she had not had a good nights sleep no matter how much make up she tried to put on to cover it up. She had no donuts, or fried chicken containers in her hand, sun glasses firmly in place, dressed in black Rangeman wear and went directly to the couch without a word.

I knew I had to do something about this. I grabbed my purse from the drawer, stood up and walked over to Stephanie and held out my hand to her. Without saying a word she took my hand and we walked to my car. I noticed that she was driving the Cayenne, rather than Big Blue, so I knew she was at Rangeman last night.

We drove to the mall in complete silence, which for us was completely unusual. I knew what the burg' was saying. No one understood how they could have missed it. How could such a good cop go so bad, and how could his girlfriend not know it? Her answering machine had probably long since exploded from the amount of calls that she received. I know her mother had called the office trying to reach her several times. The only message that she left was, "tell her I'm so sorry." I was floored by that. Helen Plum never apologized for anything or to anyone, least of all to her daughter.

There had been a few flower arrangements that had arrived for Stephanie at the office, but I wasn't interested in reading the cards. Nothing mattered but Stephanie right now, and I was going to be there for my friend.

To my surprise, walking to the food court, we passed by Angie Morelli on the way, and she completely ignored everything around her as if nothing was wrong, eyes straight forward, a smile on her face as usual. The woman was in complete denial that her son was in prison. Her precious little Joey was just as bad, if not worse, than the rest of his family. I guess if it works for her, whatever, but eventually she would have to face the reality that her son would be in jail for a good long time. I had also heard the rumblings from the 'families' that they wanted to know who took the pictures. They were worried that they had an internal problem that needed to be taken care of.

When we finally reached the food court we got some of our usual food and sat down right in the middle of the seating area, nothing like hiding in plain sight.

"Thank you." Stephanie said while looking at her food.

"You needed to get out of the office." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"That's not what I meant." She said and then looked at me. "I know it was you that sent them to me." I nodded to her. "But what I don't understand is why?"

I looked at her for a minute. "I couldn't stand to see you hurt like that. You're my friend Steph, and I would do anything for you, and I know the feeling is mutual." I explained.

"Yes it is, but you put yourself in danger with the 'families' for me." She stated looking at me.

"You put yourself on the line for others all the time. Why wouldn't I be willing to do that for you? I have connections, I'm part of the 'family', but I also consider you part of my family Steph. That ass hole hurt you and I couldn't stand back and watch once I found out. No one hurts my family and gets away with it." I explained. "And don't worry about retaliation from the 'families' they won't find anything to lead them to me."

She looked at me for a few minutes, and then seeing something that must have satisfied whatever she was looking for turned her head to look around us, just taking everything in and noticing some of the heads turning to avoid making direct eye contact with her. A small sad smile crossed her face, "Thank you for everything Connie. I don't know how I'll be able to repay you for this."

"Just continue to be my friend and we'll go about things as we always have." We looked at each other for a few minutes. "So what are you going to do now?" I asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders a bit and then sighed, "I don't know. But I do know that I won't be going home anytime soon."

I nodded, "You staying at Ranger's?" I asked.

"At Rangeman, but on the 4th floor, Lester is lending me his apartment for the time being. He's bunking with Bobby for now. They want me to work there for a while till things calm down, and try to stay out of the public view some." She answered.

"Well, maybe the mall wasn't such a good idea then." I stated flatly.

She laughed a bit, "Actually this is where I figured we would end up and told them so. I told them I had to talk to someone about everything that would understand a bit better than they would. Cal is standing over near the entrance to the food court if you hadn't noticed." She said without looking that direction.

I looked and sure enough, there was Cal, trying to look unobtrusive. We both laughed a little since the flaming skull tattoo on his head made him stick out like a sore thumb here. If it wasn't the tattoo then his muscles certainly would attract a lot of attention in that painted on black t-shirt.

"Let them take care of you Steph. You need someone to help you get through this. All the guys at Rangeman love you and will support you, just like me. I promise what ever you say will stay between the two of us." I explained and she nodded in acceptance.

A while later, we finally made our way back to the office. I gave her a quick hug, before walking through the door and she said, "Thanks again for everything Connie." I squeezed her hand again and she walked off to the Cayenne to make her way back to Rangeman.

I knew that this had to hurt my friend, but better to find out now rather than later. She'd be okay. She was a strong woman, the strongest that I know.

**I hope you enjoyed this one. Let me know what you think. I love to hear from you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own them, I just have fun with them.**

**This one was a request that kind of took on a life of it's own. I didn't intend for it to come out so sad in the end, but it did. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Wow! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the first entry of 'Pictures'. I was floored. This is turning out to be a sad story, but I promise it will get happier. Steph just has a lot to work through right now. Please let me know what you think of this update as well. This has been an interesting journey so far.**

**Possible Tissue Warning! **

Pictures 2

It had been over a week and Stephanie was still not going outside of the Rangeman building. Her one visit outside had been to the office to see if she had any files and she and Connie ended up at the mall, and then had refused to leave since then. She interacted with all of us, but the light that we all loved so much that shown so brightly was missing. All conversation had consisted about business, and certainly no mention of what had taken place, but then again no one wanted to think about what had happened either. No matter what any of us said, or did, nothing was working. She was refusing to speak with anyone outside this building, and anyone that had come to see her had been turned away, no matter who they were. Her father and grandmother had both called and come by and she refused to see them, much to our surprise.

For the first time in a long time, I wasn't sure what to do with Steph. Our normal joking and teasing wasn't happening, but then again at least she was talking, right? As I watched her on the monitor in front of me, I noticed that everything that she did was very mechanical. There was no life coming from her, not surprising really. With everything that had happened it wasn't really that unexpected, but to see Stephanie as a shell, a walking, talking machine, broke all of our hearts. Even her voice had become mechanical. I don't know how much longer I can take this depressed version of Steph.

Picking up the phone, I called her into my office so that we could speak in private. Someone needed to bring it up and unfortunately I was going to have to be that someone. God, I just hope she doesn't hate me for it.

At her knock the door opened and she closed it behind her, then quietly taking a seat in the leather seat across from me. She looked past me at the wall not willing to even make eye contact. I thought 'I want my Beautiful back'.

"What can I do for you Les?" She asked quietly.

"Beautiful, you need to talk about it." I said softly. Her head snapped to look at me and I saw the raw pain in her eyes. "I know it's hard. Believe me, I've been through some pretty bad stuff too, but talking can help. It may not solve the problem, but it will help you to get some of those feelings off your chest." I looked at her pleading for her to understand.

Silence went on with her staring at me, not a muscle twitched in her body. I'd almost given up hope when she finally spoke. "It's hard to talk about feelings when you have none." She said flatly.

I knew we were in trouble now. "Steph, you can't close yourself off because of this. You have such a big heart. This isn't you Steph."

She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess it is Les. What difference does it make anyway? No one will miss me other than the entertainment that I have provided, especially in the last few years." Her voice was flat without an ounce of emotion.

I stood up and walked around my desk to squat in front of her. "You know that's not true. None of us here at Rangeman have ever thought that about you. We all love you Beautiful. Your our family, and in some cases the only family some of us have. Please don't let this ass hole take that from us. Please fight to come back to us." I pleaded.

Looking up into her eyes I saw the slightest twinkle in her eye that gave me some hope. Maybe not all had been lost. "Please don't let him win." I said squeezing her hands.

"I don't know what's worth fighting for Les. The last three years of my life have been a lie. The person that I thought loved me, the person that had asked me to marry him over and over again, the person that I had grown up with destroyed something I thought was important." She stated flatly.

"Steph, there was more to your life than just Morelli." I said sternly. "You are a caring, loving and loyal friend. You are so much more than he ever gave you credit for. Honestly I don't understand why you were with him for so long." I could have smacked myself in the head for that comment, but it was out there. "There are so many men out there that would have given their arms and legs for a chance to be with you."

"Yeah, sure Les. I've had men lining up to take me out the last three years." She stated flatly. "No, Morelli was apparently what I deserved and look what that got me." She pulled her hands from mine and tried to get up.

I was floored to say the least. I knew at least half a dozen guys who have wanted to ask her out, but how could she have not seen it. I nearly fell on my ass when she went to stand up. "Steph, you are loved by all of us here, your family, your friends at the police station, for crying out loud half of your skips love you. How can you not see it?"

Before she got to the door she turned around and looked at me and said what made my stomach drop to my feet, "Yeah, they all love to make fun of me, bet on my life and criticize me. They wanted me to change into something that they thought I should be. No one, and I mean no one, has ever loved me for me. So now, seeing as I feel nothing, I can honestly say that I feel exactly the way they feel about me." With that she walked out of my office and closed the door behind her.

How could she think that? Didn't she know what she meant to all of us? Yeah, I know that Morelli and her mother constantly brought her down. And I knew about the betting pools at the PD, I never agreed with them, but I knew that the guys had never meant any harm by it. But I had seen them exchange money in front of Steph and she had not appreciated it, but seemed to kind of take it in stride. Had it really affected her that much?

If I thought back to recent events, I had noticed that small cracks were starting to form and she was slowly becoming more and more withdrawn before all of this even happened. Now it was as though she had been completely destroyed. I needed to find a way to fix this. I wanted my friend back. I needed my friend back. She made me a whole person again, and if I didn't have her in my life I knew I would go back to the hard shell that I was before she came into my life. Like a lot of the guys here, she was the first one that accepted us for who we were, scars and all.

Thinking of possibly losing Steph made me want to kill Morelli for what he had done to her and what he had planned to do in the future. I swear going to jail will be the least of his worries. You will pay Morelli, you will pay, and very soon.

XXXXXX

It had been two weeks since our 'Little Girl' had been brought into the building. None of us were happy to see the changes that had occurred in her. She had lost a lot of wait in such a short time, her skin looked pale from being inside all the time and her eyes seemed to be hollow. She had made some improvements over what Les had said after his talk with her in his office, all of our hearts broke for her.

We had never wanted to interfere with her friends and family, but looking back there was so much that we should have done to show her just how much we supported her and what she really meant to us. Yeah, we protected her body from harm with her more difficult skips, or on distractions, and tried to keep her safe from the stalkers that she seemed to collect, but no one seemed to think that her emotional well being was any of our business. Since those pictures had come out, a lot had changed. Aside from business, Stephanie was our number one priority.

The phones had been ringing off the hook with concerned friends and her family and she had refused to talk to them all. Once I had spoken with the majority of them and informed them that this was a business and that if they continued to call they would have charges pressed against them, things had slowed down a bit. Their questions were all the same, "How is she?", "Why isn't she returning my call?", "Why won't she talk to me?", or even the common, "Why me? Why do I have to have the daughter that has the manners of a monkey?" from her mother, who I promptly hung up on. That witch would never learn no matter how much she kept saying to tell Stephanie 'I'm sorry'. Lula had even threatened to break down the door and pull her 'white girl' out by her hair to talk to her.

We knew, dropping off skips at the TPD we were going to get questions from everyone, but up until today no one from Rangeman had made an effort to get her to talk to anyone on the outside. The PD wanted to know how their 'friend' was. They wanted to see her with their own eyes and hear her voice. I couldn't blame them honestly, but they were a major part of the problem as well. I wasn't sure if Steph could handle it just yet. When I was approached by Carl, and he begged me to let him see her I didn't have the heart to tell him no again, so I said I would try, but I wasn't making any promises. And he had to agree that it would be just him. No one else, or I wouldn't even allow them in the building. It really hadn't been that difficult to get him to agree, so he must have been desperate.

So pulling back into the parking garage at Haywood I went straight up to five and walked to Steph's desk. She was working away, and looked like she had managed to get herself into a zone of her own, something that had only happened recently, and it was down right scary. If this is what we looked like when we zoned out, as Steph called it, no wonder she got frustrated. I cleared my throat and I got no response at first, but once I spoke her name she turned around and I was greeted with a slight smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Hey Big Guy. What can I do for you?" there was a flat quality to her voice that squeezed my heart.

I leaned up against her desk, crossed my arms and ankles and looked down at her. "I need to ask you for a favor." I said and quickly moved on before she could respond. "I know someone that wants to speak with you, and I know that you are avoiding everyone from the burg', but I think you really need to talk to someone Steph. I would really like for you to speak with this person now. If you need, I will be right there with you. There will be no one else around, but the three of us. I made him promise or I wouldn't even have asked you. Please, Little Girl! I can see you are hurting. For me, can you please talk to him? Just hear him out if nothing else."

The stiff posture told me she wasn't happy with me, but I figured that by saying the magic word, and offering to be there with her, it would help her in some way and she couldn't say no. Or at least that was what I was hoping for.

She looked me straight in the eye before responding. "Only, if you stay with me. And we don't do it here on five."

I let go of the breath I had been holding and nodded. "How about we take a walk around the block and head to the park down the street? That way no one will listen in. You need to get out of this building for a bit. You haven't even gone up on the roof to get some sun, and I know how you like to be outside." I mentally crossed my fingers and waited fro her response.

She nodded her head slowly, but a look of fear crossed her face. "Alright." She said slowly as she stood up and stiffly walked to the elevator with me at her side. I looked down the hall and saw that Lester had stuck his head out of his door and smiled at me. Steph never even noticed the smile that crept onto the face of each man as we walked past them heading for the elevator.

The entire elevator ride down to the lobby I could feel the tension radiating off of Steph. I knew she was only doing this because I asked her, but I hoped that when it was over she would be a little more relaxed. Stepping out into the lobby her steps faltered when she saw who was standing there, but then she continued to move forward.

The look on Carls' face could only be described as crestfallen when he first saw her. I think he had hoped she would smile, but honestly, those were far and few between lately. I spoke up, "How about we all take a walk?" Carl gave me a questioning look and then nodded and stepped to open the door. Steph grabbed my hand as she began to walk out the door and I noticed the frown deepen on Carls' face as I passed by. I felt him follow us out and I squeezed Stephs' hand in a show of support.

"Steph, honey, how are you?" He asked as he fell into step with us.

She never looked at him, just replied with a flat, "Fine." while continuing to walk.

"We've all been worried about you." He stated. "Everyone has been trying to talk to you, why haven't you answered or returned our calls?" I wanted to hit the man upside the head.

"Didn't feel like listening to everyone." She replied matter of factly.

"Steph, I'm really sorry that all this happened. If we had any idea of what was going on we would have put a stop to it. You know that, but none of us knew." Carl tried to explain.

"Sure, just like you put a stop to everything else bothering me that was going on in my life." She commented with no emotion and still refusing to look at him.

I looked at his face and saw the pain that was in his eyes. I could see that he knew he had helped to hurt her, but couldn't face up to his own piece in this whole mess.

"You have to know that if we knew you were going to be hurt that we would have prevented it. You and I grew up together Steph. I've known you since Kindergarten. You were my friend before Morelli ever was. I would have never put him before you." He paused. "We really miss you." He said sadly.

Steph made no attempt to respond to that, just kept on walking, never letting go of my hand.

I saw Carl watching her silently. We walked on in quiet for a distance and I knew he was trying to find a way to connect with her, and having trouble, but all of a sudden he got a smile on his face as if remembering something important.

"Hey Steph, remember in first grade how at lunch I used to tell you jokes. I used to love to tell you the most disgusting thing that I had heard and make you spray your milk from your nose, because I always timed it when you were taking a drink. I used to love it when that happened." He smiled and chuckled at the memory and I couldn't help but think that this man had no idea how to reach her. He was just digging a deeper hole for himself honestly.

"Yeah, I remember alright. I would always go home and get in trouble because I had clothes covered in chocolate milk. So I used to sit in the corner and do my homework or sit with nothing to do if I was already done, while Val got to watch tv, or go outside to play. Great memory. Glad I could be your form of entertainment for so long Carl." Steph said flatly.

"Steph, you haven't only been entertainment." Carl stated with a horrified look on his face.

"Really, cause you and everyone at the PD have been such good friends right? Placing bets on when my next car will blow up, what type of injuries I get. You have all been so helpful over the years. I must have missed the many invitations to the parties and the offers of help to train with my gun, or even having anyone drop by my apartment just to say hi." She turned to look at him with no expression on her face, "But I guess you were there so often when my apartment was broken into and ransacked that you figured that counted as a friendly visit." Her voice was devoid of emotion. Even sarcasm from Steph was falling flat.

Carl stopped walking, "Wait a minute, we thought you were ok with the bets. You've always laughed right along with us at the scenes." He said stunned. Man this guy really was stupid.

"Yeah, that's why I always congratulated the winner. All you guys ever did was thank me for your winnings and tell me what you were going to spend the money on. Great friends, huh? How many house payments were you able to make off of me Carl?" Steph took a deep breath and sighed, turned to me and asked, "Tank, can we go back now?"

"But Steph, Morelli started the betting pools and said you knew it was all in good fun." The truth of what he had just said dawned on him. Carl looked down at his shoes, "Morelli ran the books and encouraged us to participate before you two got together. Then he handed them off to the docking LT." Shaking his head, "No one asked why he stopped handling it when you two got together. He never participated once you were together, but he kept on encouraging us to. He got a really good laugh out of it too." I felt Steph squeezing my hand harder the more he talked.

"Carl, I think you need to drop it now." I said sternly. He looked up at me and then at Steph. A look of pity crossed his face.

"God Steph, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Honest I didn't." He pleaded with her to understand and all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and hold her.

There was absolutely no emotion on Steph's face. "Great friends that I have, huh Tank? They never once thought that what they were doing was wrong, never once thought that I would care that they laughed at my life and what happened to me. None of them would have been concerned if anything had happened to me either I bet." Her voice was monotone, even and precise. "And they all wonder why I want nothing to do with them. Makes you wonder sometimes doesn't it? I guess they have no idea what true friendship is. Either that or it was a friendship of convenience. Either way, I know who my friends are now. If nothing else, this whole thing has truly told me who cares about me and who only says it." She tugged on my hand and we started heading back in the direction of the building.

"Steph, how can you say that? You know that we all love you." Carl said with his voice cracking with raw pain.

"Sure, as entertainment. Well, no more." Steph replied in a stony voice, which was the first emotion that I had heard from her in quite some time.

Carl had stopped walking at her reply and hung his head.

Steph quickened her pace, without releasing her hold on my hand. We made it in the building, into the elevator and she pushed the button for four. I wanted to see what she was going to do, and since she hadn't released my hand I was going to be right there with her. She made her way to Les's apartment, pulled out her key, swiped it and pulled me inside, quickly closing the door behind us and threw herself in my arms. Her body was wracked with sobs and all I could do was hold her while she cried.

After a few minutes, I picked her up and carried her to the couch and placed her in my lap. I gently rocked her side to side, while I stroked her hair allowing her to drench my shirt with her tears. What she was going through broke my heart more than anything I had ever experienced, but there was also a bright spot in all of this, she was crying. Not once since we had brought her to this building had she shown any emotion. She had bottled her emotions up and wasn't ready to deal with them. At least now, after talking with Carl and getting some of the things that she had been thinking out in the open she had released that cork on the bottle.

I wanted to cry with her for what she was going through, but at the same time I wanted to shout it to the roof tops that she was making some progress. She would come back to us, and she would be stronger for it in the end. We just needed to support her in everyway that we could and that she would allow.


	3. Chapter 3

Pictures 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just have fun with them.**

**This one was a request that kind of took on a life of its own. I didn't intend for it to come out so sad in the end, but it did. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Wow! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the first entry of 'Pictures'. I was floored. This is turning out to be a sad story, but I promise it will get happier. Steph just has a lot to work through right now. Please let me know what you think of this update as well. This has been an interesting journey so far.**

We were all worried about the amount of time that Steph had locked herself up in the building, but over the last few weeks she had gradually started going out more. Limiting herself to the presence of Connie and anyone from Rangeman. She never left the building without a bodyguard, and it was her choice. After her conversation with Carl, I think she really started to realize just how much she missed going out. She would spend at least an hour up on the roof sunning herself and thinking. She started getting her color back, but she was no where near her normal self, which I guess was to be expected.

She had made a few trips out to Newark with Connie. Lester had tagged along at her request first and then Cal and Hal were the next ones to go. She never bought anything, claiming that she had no one to impress and no need to purchase clothes to go out when all she needed were her Rangeman uniforms. I guess that made some sense, and her clothes from her apartment had all been moved here. She was even contemplating giving up her apartment. To say that we were thrilled with this news would be an understatement, but she absolutely refused to be moved into the seventh floor. So for the mean time she was still living in Lester's apartment. I think in some way she felt that Ranger had not protected her from Morelli, but she wouldn't talk about it.

Today she had asked me to take her to see her grandmother. She had talked with her on the phone in the past few days and felt that she needed to see her in person. Thankfully she didn't want to expose the majority of the building to her grandmother. There was a giant sigh of relief from the building when she made that announcement. Now I would just have to suffer through the leers and gropes individually, but then again I would do anything for my 'little girl'. Only thing was I was not going to the only Rangeman in attendance, she had also asked Hector to attend since we needed someone to cover our backs. I was so proud to see that she was thinking more about her safety.

I noticed that after the talks with her grandmother on the phone she seemed a bit lighter, more of the old Stephanie was coming back, little by little. I just wondered how much of the old Stephanie would be back and how much she would have changed from this whole ordeal. Someone had suggested that we get her to talk to a psychologist, but that was dismissed quickly, she was talking to us now, and we didn't want her to think we thought she was crazy. If nothing else, I was learning how she thought, and I was not willing to cause a set back by allowing her to just to he conclusion that she was crazy.

The three of us walked down the stairs to the garage and quickly climbed into my SUV. No one said anything as we drove towards her parents' house, but I could feel the tension growing in Steph, so I reached back and squeezed her knee to let her know that I was there for her. She made eye contact with me and gave me a small smile. She was fidgeting in her seat and kept fiddling with her pockets, then placing her hands in her lap. In the ten minutes it took us to arrive I don't think she had been motionless. That was more of the Steph that we all knew.

Pulling up in front of the house her grandmother was waiting at the door. I noticed that the driveway was empty so hopefully her parents weren't around. We all exited the car and walked up to the porch. Steph grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. Hector disappeared, after kissing her on the cheek, to check our surroundings, but I knew he wouldn't be too far away.

"Hey there grandbaby." Grandma Mazur said quietly before enveloping Steph in a hug.

"Hi grandma." Steph replied just as quietly.

"Hi there Mr. Tank. Thank you for bringing Steph to visit with me." She said as we walked in the house. I nodded my head and took a quick scan of the area, I noticed curtains moving, no doubt the burg grapevine was already in full swing.

Stepping into the den, Steph released my hand and walked to the couch with her grandmother. I sat in an extra chair away from what I knew to be Mr. Plum's lounger.

"I've missed you Steph, but I know that you need to be away from here." Steph nodded to her. "I know being here is hard for you and I won't keep you very long, but I have something I wanted to give you." She pulled a small jewelry box from the pocket of her dress. Looking down at the box in her hands she started to explain what it was, "This has been in the family for a very long time, it was to get passed down from generation to generation of women in my family. I guess it should have gone to your mother, but what it signifies she doesn't possess. There have been many women in our family that have been different like you and me. Strong women that show others how to stand up for what they feel and protect those that can't protect themselves. It could be as simple as giving shelter, food, clothing, or it could be those standing up to right a wrong. Someone who is willing to lead others and not fear for themselves." Grandma Mazur explained.

"You Steph, have always been the epitome of what this piece of jewelry stands for in our family. You help others that can't help themselves no matter what it costs you. You may not see it right now, but you are very important to many people around here. Without you many of them would have been gone long ago. I know that you feel you are unimportant at the moment, you feel as though your heart has been shattered, maybe not because you loved him, but because your trust in humanity as a whole has been so damaged." She paused and took a deep breath looking her granddaughter right in the eyes before continuing. "The men who have been taking care of you, I can see it in this young mans eyes, and the fact that he is sitting here in the same room with me," she laughed along with Steph at that comment, "would do anything for you, just as you would do for them. So I know that your trust has not been completely broken, but I need to ask you to be willing, at some point, to let some others in. You will regret it for the rest of your life if you shut everyone else out. It will be a difficult journey, no one said that life was easy, and you know that better than some others, but don't let the actions of the few ruin your view of the many." Steph looked back at her grandmother with tears in her eyes and I wanted to shout my joy to the rooftops.

I may be scared of this little old lady on any normal day, but at this moment I could give this woman a big full on lip kiss for what she just told Steph. This woman knew her granddaughter, even if her own mother didn't.

She handed the box to Steph and she opened it slowly. Inside was a beautiful ring made of silver. The center stone was a very light colored amethyst, surrounded by small diamond baguettes. Steph stared at it for a moment before looking at her grandmother.

"I remember you wearing this ring when I was little. I always thought it was beautiful. Why did you take it off?" Steph asked as the tears streamed down her face.

"When your grandfather died," she paused and took a deep breath, "I kind of lost my way a bit, and I didn't feel right wearing it anymore. I moved in with your parents, and my life was never really the same. Once things had settled down in my life again I didn't feel right putting it back on. I knew the time would come and I would be passing it on to the next generation, but watching your mother over the years I knew that there was no way that I could give it to her. She cared more about the burg' than anything else and she was able to make Valerie into her own clone, rather than teacher her the importance of the needs of others." She thought for a moment before continuing. "I tried the best that I could to instill a sense of giving just to give, but somehow, your mother turned it into a way to one up the neighbor, or uses it as a chance to gain or spread the town gossip. Her donations and community work were only to bring up or maintain her standing in the burg', exactly the opposite of what this ring stands for."

"I had thought about giving this to you on several other occasions but they were never the right one. This time, I think that you need a reminder of who you are and the importance of your actions. You are a strong woman Stephanie, you just need to realize that for yourself. Don't listen to what others think of you. Really the only important thing is what you think of yourself. Without trust and belief in yourself, you will never truly be happy, and you deserve that baby granddaughter, you most out of anyone in this family." She explained, withdrew the ring from the box and carefully placed it on the ring finger of Steph's right hand.

The tears were freely falling from Steph now and I wanted to hug her close to me and tell her that we would all be there to support her for as long as she would allow us. Her grandmother enveloped her in her arms and rocked her silently, stoking her hair gently. Grandma Mazur looked up into my eyes and I could see she was trying to send me a silent 'thank you', I could only nod in response. At this very moment I was so thankful for this woman I felt like all in the world was right.

After a little while Steph was finally able to calm herself and they continued to chat a bit. I knew we were going to be running out of time before someone came home, and just as that thought crossed my mind, Hector came in the back door to tell us that Mrs. Plum was coming down the street faster than she would normally be driving. Unfortunately since we were parked out front there would be no way to avoid the woman.

Looking down to Steph I could see that she was gaining more self control and was readying herself for the upcoming battle. She looked up at me and said with firmness, "I can do this."

I nodded and replied, "And I'll be right here with you."

"I no go anywhere chica." Hector said as he squeezed her shoulder.

A slight smile crossed her face as she squeezed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry Steph, the burg' must have told her." Grandma said with a shake of her head.

"It's ok grandma. I have to do it sometime. I'm surprised it took this long for it to spread to her." Steph replied.

"Well, actually she was out in Philadelphia at the Zoo with Val and the girls. I thought that would give you enough time to leave before she got back." Grandma Mazur said with a smile.

Steph smiled at her grandmother, "Thanks for trying." At that moment the front door was thrown open and barreling in came the Wicked Bitch or Trenton.

XXXXXX

I was ready for this, no matter what it looked like on the outside I had thought of what I was going to say to my mother for a while now. It was one of the main reasons that I had stayed away from the burg' for so long. I wanted things to die down before they were going to explode again. There was no way to avoid it, and it was now that it was going to happen. I stuffed both my hands in my pockets and waited for what I knew was coming.

I felt Tank stiffen next to me when the door opened abruptly and I reached over and squeezed his hand, but looked directly to my mother.

"It's about time you came here Stephanie." She said. "In the kitchen now." And she began to walk off in her intended direction.

"I'd be happy to go if you had just asked instead of ordering." I said flatly without moving from my spot. I noticed that she stopped in her tracks.

Without looking at me, and a brief pause she said flatly, "Please join me in the kitchen." and then stalked off.

I took a few deep breaths and then stood. Tank stood with me and we moved toward the kitchen, Grandma stopped me and said, "Stand strong kiddo. Don't let her get to you." I nodded my head and Tank and I moved into the kitchen and took a seat at the table next to each other.

My mother stood in front of her pantry with a glass in her hand and a bottle of Wild Turkey in her other. Pouring herself a glass and downing it before pouring another. She finally turned towards us after taking a deep breath and said, "I meant alone Stephanie. He doesn't need to hear our dirty laundry." She said pointing at Tank.

I looked at her and with no emotion said, "He happens to have a name, and it's Tank. If you wish to speak with me you will do it with him present or we won't be having any conversation." I looked her in the eye and waited for what her response would be.

She stared back and then seemed to come to some kind of conclusion. "I'm sorry for my part in this latest mess you have found yourself in, but you should have come talked to me sooner Stephanie. The neighbors have been talking about you none stop since this latest embarrassment." I stiffened at that, but she wouldn't have noticed any change in my stance. "I don't understand how you couldn't have known what was going on. How could you embarrass me like this? You should have come home and started looking for another man to settle down with. You need to get married and start a family. I will have a few dinner dates set up for you within the week now." She informed me.

"Glad to hear that you are so concerned with my welfare that you ask me how I'm feeling mother." I commented.

"Well, I have tried to reach you and you have refused all my calls and have not returned any of my messages. I have apologized for my part in this whole thing. What else do you want from me? You look just fine Stephanie. You need to get on with you life. Your not getting any younger you know." My mother stated.

"And you think that by apologizing in your part of this mess that that makes up for everything that you have ever done to me? You wanted me to marry a man that only wanted to destroy me. He used me and you expected me to know what was going on? How could you think that this was my fault?" I asked with no emotion.

"You practically lived with the man Stephanie. I wanted you settled down and he seemed to be the only one interested in a relationship with you. Now you need to start over." My mother stated.

"And you think that you that you know what's best for me? Even though I'm an adult and can make my own decisions. What give you the right to make my decisions for me?" I asked her.

"I'm your mother. You know nothing about what will make you happy. You've screwed up every decision that you have ever made so I have to step in again to make sure that you don't end up alone. You've embarrassed us enough Stephanie. It's time that you take your place in the burg' just like every other girl has that has grown up here." She commented. The anger radiating off of Tank was growing with each word out of her mouth. I patted his hand to let him know it was ok.

"Just so you know I won't do anything that you are speaking of. If I choose to get married it will be to someone I love, not someone who you choose for me. We all know how well that has turned out. First Dickie, and now Joe, I don't understand why you feel you know best." I replied.

"Dickie cheating on you had to do with your inability to satisfy him, had you done what he wanted in the bedroom he would never have turned to others. You ruined one of the best things in your life, and I had you set up to be taken care of for life." She commented.

"And you know my bedroom activities how?" I asked her. "I mean you weren't in the bedroom with us were you?"

"For heaven sake Stephanie, no I wasn't in your bedroom with you. It's the logical direction to think when everything came out about your divorce. Do you know how embarrassing that was? Why me Stephanie? Why do I have to have the daughter who can't make a man happy, who can't cook, or clean, and has to work long hours and neglects that man in her life." My mother shook her head. "Do you know how much of a failure you have made me look like?" I heard a growl low in Tanks chest at that.

"It must be horrible for you to have a daughter like me. I'm surprised that you even acknowledged my existence." I said sarcastically and tank squeezed my hand.

"You have no idea. You've basically ruined any respect that I have in the burg'." My mother said with frustration. "Do you have any idea how much work I have had to do to keep what little standing that I have now?"

Hector stepped into the room and stood at my back, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Well, just so you know I have no intention of coming back into this house again after today. You've never been there for me, and you just proved that you will never change. I get that it must have been hard to be the parent to a child who was so different from everyone else, but you never even attempted to try to understand me or support what I may need. So, yes in a sense you are a failure as a mother." I heard her gasp at my comment. "Other than the burg' you know nothing about what other people want or need if it is anything that does not fit into the perfect little box that you have created for yourself." I saw her mouth start to open but he words were silenced by Hector's glare, so I continued. "Your children should have come first, no matter what the neighborhood said. Being different isn't a bad thing, but to you it was a curse. You took every opportunity to turn me into you, and no matter what you did it didn't work. Don't you think that that would have told you it wasn't going to happen?"

"How dare you talk to me like that." She sneered, her anger winning over the fear she felt. "I'm your mother. You need to show me respect."

I stood up at that and leaned on the table with both hands, leaning closer to her. "You deserve no respect from anyone. You tried to sell me out to a man that you knew came from a family of abusers and drunks. You never thought of my happiness, only your own. I could have ended up dead and you wouldn't have cared. Oh, on the surface you would have been sad, but deep down you would have been relieved not to have to deal with me." I glared at her while I took a deep breath. "All I have every heard all my life was how difficult I made things for you. All of the 'why me's' and the comparisons to other daughters in the community, well, news flash for you mother, I'm none of them. I don't follow the burg' standard, I never have and never will, either accept that or not, that's not my problem. I will tell you that you have no say in what I do with my life, whether I choose to get married again, have children or not is up to me. I will do what I want, be friends with whomever I want, and spend time with any man that I see fit. I don't care what you or others say about me."

"You can't mean that." My mother said on a shaky breath. "You'll end up alone if you don't settle down now Stephanie."

"Then maybe that's what I want. Did you ever think about that?" I looked at her. "Of course not, because you never cared. Your constant belittling of me has earned you exactly what you have deserved. I hope you enjoy people talking about you for a change, because believe me after today, you will be the topic of conversation." I explained. "The burg' will finally get to see the true Helen Plum as of today." I took out a tape recorder from my pocket and rewound the tape. My mother looked at me in horror.

"Let me know if you think this is something that you think the burg' would like to hear, because from where I stand this is some juicy piece of gossip. The real Helen Plum, for everyone to hear." She gaped at me as the tape played every word that she had said since she walked in the house. Her face growing paler as the tape progressed. I stopped it halfway thru for a moment to get her attention, "How do you think you sound in this tape mother? Are you coming across as the loving and caring mother that wants what is best for her daughter? Or the woman that could care less about her daughters happiness and instead what the burg' thinks of herself? What's it like to hear what you sound like to me every time I walk in that front door? By the surprise on your face I can see that you never listened to yourself or thought what you said could sound so awful. Well, here is a reality check for you, every word that has ever come out of your mouth with regards to my job, my friends or choices in life have all been hurtful. Your apology for this one instance means nothing to me; it couldn't even scratch the surface of all the pain you have caused me over the years. It took this incident to make me take a good hard look at how I allowed people to treat me, and I will never let that happen again. There is just too much hurt that you have caused me to apologize for."

I turned to Tank and grabbed his hand, which he took with a light squeeze, stood and we walked out the door, followed by Hector. Grandma kissed me on the cheek and nodded at Tank and Hector as we walked out the door. My mother never left her kitchen.

Stepping into the SUV, Tank climbed in the back with me and hugged my shoulder, placing a kiss on my hair, "Good job Little Girl. You did good." He said. My body was trembling from the adrenaline that had been coursing through my veins from the confrontation, but honestly I felt better than I had in weeks.

"Chica, I hope I never on your bad side." Hector commented with a smile.

I smiled back weakly and snuggled into Tanks chest, closing my eyes and letting sleep take me.

**So, Steph is finally making some progress to regain herself. Dealing with her mother is only going to make her stronger, and I look forward to seeing where this takes her. I hope you will follow along on the rest of this journey. More to come next week, I promise. A few surprise appearances will happen in the next week or so. Please let me know what you think, I love to hear from you. Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed so far, I love to hear your thoughts. **


	4. Chapter 4

Pictures 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just have fun with them.**

**This one was a request that kind of took on a life of its own. I didn't intend for it to come out so sad in the end, but it did. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Wow! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the first entry of 'Pictures'. I am still floored. This has turning out to be a sad (emotional) story, but I promise it is getting happier. Steph just has a lot to work through. Please let me know what you think of this update as well. This has been an interesting journey so far.**

After the confrontation with her mother Stephanie had waited a few days before leaving the building again. Today, when she decided to go out, she asked if I would join her, and without hesitation I jumped from my chair and headed for the elevator with her in tow giggling. She wanted to go to the Tasty Pastry, and I was so happy to hear it. Her normal appetite hadn't returned yet, but this was the first time I had heard that she would be eating those famous 'Boston Crèmes' that she was known for eating, and I was going to hear her moan over them. 'God I'm hard as a rock just thinking about it.'

The drive was silent, but I could feel a change in the atmosphere the closer that we got. She was actually excited about eating them again and I couldn't be happier. I had worried about her since the day we brought her back from Morelli's. By the time we pulled into the parking lot she was nearly bouncing in her seat. I exited the car and went to open her door. She hesitated a minute, but when she looked in my eyes, I gave her a reassuring smile and pulled on her hand.

"Angel, it'll be alright. I'm right here with you. I'm not going anywhere, ok?" I offered.

She smiled in return, and before she stepped out of the car she pulled me forward and kissed the tattoo on my forehead. She was the only one that had ever done that to me and I would be forever grateful that she accepted me the way that I was.

We walked into the bakery and headed for the counter. I noticed that there was complete silence, and we were the center of everyone's attention. No one even bothered to hide the fact that they were staring at us. I wasn't sure if it was because of Stephanie, or the tattoo on my head, but the looks on peoples' faces were full of either sympathy or fear. Steph just pulled me up to the counter, holding my hand and not once letting go.

"Steph, it's been a while. What can I get for you?" the baker asked in a kind voice with a very large smile on her face.

Steph smiled and replied, "A dozen Boston Crèmes and a dozen glazed please." She never acknowledged the other people in the bakery, another sign that Steph was getting stronger. She used to worry about what everyone said or thought, and the fact that she didn't even turn in their direction to acknowledge them made my heart grow about two sizes. For as long as I had known her, she had always been trying to break free of the burg' and it seems that she may have just been able to do that.

The baker came back quickly with her order and placed in on the counter, "It's on the house today. Just promise me that you'll come around more, ok?" She commented.

Stephanie smiled at her and said, "I can't promise anything, but I can try. I don't know how often I'll be in the burg', but when I am, I'll make sure to stop by." I was surprised by her response, but knew that I would have the chance to ask her about it later.

She headed for the door, boxes in her hand and pulling me along with her, stepping out of the door, Steph stopped and looked around. The next thing I knew there was the sound of guns shots as Steph pulled me to the ground behind a car, and dropping the doughnuts to the ground beside us. Drawing my gun and looking in the direction the shots were fired I was able to see legs shifting in their place at the corner of a building across the street. A few more bullets were fired from that location and embedded themselves in the building behind us.

People in the street had screamed and run for cover, so now the only sounds were sirens in the distance, when I saw that the legs were going to take off, I fired two rounds and the legs crumpled to the ground, dropping his gun, swearing and holding his now bloody leg. Stephanie was up before I could stop her and advanced on the body. I quickly followed behind her, but she was already there kicking his gun out of his reach.

"Who sent you?" She asked him in a harsh tone. The man just glared at her. She advanced on him and kicked him in the nuts as hard as she could and he doubled over in pain. I went to stop her and she shot me a harsh look. I pulled my phone and called the control room asking for back up.

"I asked you, who sent you?" She requested for a second time. The man only groaned.

Junior picked up the phone and I explained what had happened and he informed me that Lester and Bobby were already in route. I heard tires squeal to a stop and heard the pounding of pavement behind me. I closed my phone and Lester and Bobby were right there with me, watching her.

Since the man was on his side on the ground she kicked him in the ribs and he tried to huddle up in a ball to protect himself.

The cops had now joined us, and I noticed that Eddie and Carl were standing there not in any hurry to stop her. Eddie looked at me and asked, "What happened?"

"This ass hole was taking shots at us." Steph called from her spot never turning around. "And I want to know who sent him. No one gets in the way of me and my doughnuts, and no one gets to try to take me out. Not anymore." She yelled.

The man still hadn't said anything. She stepped up to him and pulled him upright leaning him against the car next to her, she spread his legs and then bent over to look him in the face. "If you don't tell me who sent you, I will squash your nuts right here." She growled and we all sucked in air.

The mans' eyes went wide, but he didn't speak. She took one step toward him and he tried to protect himself but she kicked him in the stomach and then placed her foot on his crotch. We all internally groaned, winced and started to turn green as her foot was gradually getting closer and closer to the ground with his nuts directly under it. Shortly before her foot made it to the ground he shouted, "The Grizolli Family."

Steph stopped her foot before it made contact with the ground and we all took a deep breath. Lifting her foot she bent her knee and connected with the mans stomach again. "Well, you're a lousy shot." She turned around to see us and smiled at me.

Steph turned to Eddie and Carl, face emotionless, simply saying, "The Grizolli's apparently have a hit out on me. If you have any issues with how I got the information file charges, otherwise I'm out of here."

Lester, Bobby and I followed her to the SUV we arrived in and stopped to grab her boxes of doughnuts. At the SUV, she climbed into the passenger seat, opened her box of Boston Crèmes and took a bite of her first one, moaning for all the world to hear. "God I've missed these."

We snickered at her comment as we watched Eddie and Carl cart the man off to their patrol car. "You guys want one?" She offered.

"The Boston Crèmes are all yours Angel, but I'll take one of the glazed." I said with a smile. Lester and Bobby followed my example taking from the other box, smirks in place.

She smiled at me and then I saw a look of sadness cross her face. "You know, before this all happened I never would have done something like that. I don't know whether that's a good or a bad thing." She confessed.

"Angel, you have a right to be pissed. You didn't do anything to deserve this. I was a bit surprised at your actions, but it's nothing that anyone of us wouldn't have done." I explained. "Not one of us will think differently about you because of this or anything else that you do."

"I know. I just, I don't know, I guess I kind of took my frustration on Morelli and this whole situation out on him. I didn't mean to. I don't know if I will ever feel like I used to any more." She said sadly.

"Sometimes that can be a good thing. You aren't going to let anyone walk all over you. Not that you did that before, but I think now, you are even more aware of the possibility. It'll take time to begin to feel some kind of balance between what you used to feel and what you feel now. It's hasn't been that long, and we've all been there. We're all here for you Angel, no matter what." I explained to her, hoping that she would understand.

"Thanks Cal. All of you guys have been so good to me. I think that it pissed me off even more that it wasn't just me that he was shooting at. He could have hurt you as well." She said sadly. "It would kill me if I was the cause of any one of you getting hurt."

"Beautiful, we all feel the same way. It would kill us to know that you were hurt if we could have done something to prevent it. Your one of us and nothing that you say or do will ever change that." Lester commented.

"Steph, you mean the world to us. When Lester and I heard that you were being shot at, we couldn't get here fast enough. But when we saw you standing up for yourself, we couldn't have been prouder of you than we were at that moment. You're taking back your life, little by little. And we will be standing by your side while you do it, and then when you live it." Bobby said.

Her smile was growing with each statement. We had been telling her this over the last few weeks, but I think that she was finally starting to hear us. I hadn't seen her smile like that since before this all started, and I couldn't wait to tell the rest of the guys that I was here to see it. Steph has always accepted us for who and what we were, no questions asked, and knowing that she was starting to understand that we felt exactly the same way about her was a big step in the right direction for all of us.

XXXXXX

Somewhere in New Jersey a few days later….

As he washed his hands after performing his morning ritual he looked at the mirror and cringed. His beard was shaggy, his hair needed to be cut, and his coloring was pale, compared to his normal olive complexion. His eyes were hard even to his own eyes, but then again there was nothing soft about him anymore and all thanks to one person. Stephanie. If it was the last thing that he ever did, he would make sure that she paid for what he was going through right now. Solitary confinement. A cop in jail was never a good thing, but something was different today.

As he stepped away from the mirror a guard came and pulled him from his cell. They walked down the corridor and the guard pushed him into what looked like the cafeteria for the main prison. Fear gripped him; he knew that he was not supposed to be in this area, no cop should have been anywhere near here. He could only hope that the beard and longer hair would hide his identity, in case he ran across anyone from one of his old cases. Keeping his head down, he headed toward the food line, praying that he could get out of here alive.

He noticed that the other prisoners were looking at him strangely, did they recognize him, probably not, but he decided to keep to himself just in case. Not more than ten minutes after he sat down, a riot broke out. Trying to move to the wall so he could stay away from the fray, a large figure loomed over him. Looking up into the eyes of the man, an evil smile crossed his scarred face.

"Trying to get away Morelli?" The man asked. Joe said nothing and tried to move further away from the man, toward the exit of the cafeteria. "I have a message to deliver to you and anyone who thinks to hurt Stephanie Plum."

Joe's blank face slammed into place. "So that bitch put you up to this?"

The man only laughed. "Not even close. No, Ms. Plum is too good of a person to even consider putting an end to you, even after what you did to her. This message is from a benefactor of hers. No one will hurt her like that again. You are scum Morelli, worse than most men in here. You'll rot in hell for what you did to her, and she will go on with her life none the wiser."

"The cops will blame her for this and put her away. And what about you? You'll get even more time." Joe said with a hint of fear in his voice.

The man shook his head and grabbed him by the throat. Something sharp was thrust into his stomach, "I'm in for life, so I won't get anymore time for this. I'm doing this as a favor. Sending a message is something that I am more than capable of doing. You have no honor Morelli, and you will die a painful death like the scum that you are deserves. Have a nice time in hell." The man pulled the object from his stomach, then released his throat and slashed his carotid artery, allowing the lifeblood to drain from his body. Morelli slide to the floor unable to make a sound and the man just dissolved into the mass riot that had been taking place around them.

The only thing that crossed Morelli's mind before the pain and blackness consumed him was the anger that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his wish of making Stephanie pay.

XXXXXX

I had received an unexpected phone call this morning, and wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but the man that I was to meet with was coming here to Rangeman, and had agreed to leave his bodyguards outside and no weapons were being brought into the building. I knew that I was related to him by marriage, but had never met him in person. And the reason for his visit was about business, at least according to him. I didn't think that I had any business with him; I hadn't been working for Vinnie since this whole mess had started. I wasn't going to be giving out any information, but I was more than interested in hearing what he had to say.

I had been worried that someone would find out exactly who had taken the pictures, and as far as I know at this point, no one had found out. At least Connie was still working for Vinnie, and the last time that I had spoken with her things were perfectly normal.

The phone at my desk buzzed and I answered it. "Steph here."

"Hey Steph, it's Binkie. Harry is here to see you, and I put him in Conference Room A for you." He explained.

"Ok thanks. I'll be right down." I said. Taking a few deep breaths I made my way to the elevator. The guys had agreed to let me handle this on my own, as long as they could listen in, via the cameras. Since Binkie was right down the hall, and Harry had agreed to leave all weapons at the door, this was a good compromise. Lester winked at me from his office doorway and I stepped on the elevator. I knew they would all be listening.

Walking down the hallway I felt as though I was walking to my own death, not knowing what to expect, but at the same time, I knew I had to do this for myself. I knocked on the door before entering, and there across the table sat Harry the Hammer. I had never met the man in person, but I knew who he was. Closing the door behind me, and turning to face him, he approached me and offered a hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person Ms. Plum. I've heard a lot about you through the years." Harry said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you as well, please have a seat and call me Stephanie. What can I do for you? I was a bit surprised to get your call." I asked.

"Well, call me Harry, and actually I'm here to do something for you. Or rather give you some information that you may find helpful. You see," He said as he sat down in the chair next to me and turning to look me in the eye. "It seems that you have made a number of friends, as well as enemies in your job. I am here as a neutral party to inform you that this latest mishap, shall we call it, has been taken care of for you. And as far as future incidents, if any occur, sever consequences have been issued and will be enforced if anything should happen to you."

I looked at him with wide eyes. I couldn't really believe what I was hearing. "I don't think that I understand."

"The acts of Detective Morelli, and the Grizolli Family did not follow a certain code, shall we say. And due to this, special actions have been taken. Due to your connections, a benefactor of yours has taken it upon themselves and taken swift actions on your behalf. The hit that was placed on you and the attempt at completion yesterday set everything in motion. By the way, I heard what you did to the man and I can only say that if you were my daughter I would be one proud papa." He laughed. "You know the way to take a man down, and drive your point home. You did good kid." I blushed at his praise, especially since I wasn't so sure that I was proud of what I did myself.

Taking a deep breath, he continued, "The Grizolli Family has been severely punished for their actions, as well as Detective Morelli. You will be hearing about his accident shortly." He said looking me hard in the eye. I swallowed and nodded my head. "There was a search to find out who breached the 'Families' and was able to get the information which landed the Grizollis' and Detective Morelli in prison, which has now been terminated. It is understood that this person must have felt rather close to you, and that they not only saved you, but also brought to light the actions outside of our code. For these reasons, whoever this person is, and I won't ask who it is, will suffer no consequences for their actions. They will have the protection of the 'Families' as you do now." Harry explained.

I sat there staring at him, wide eyed. Who would have done this for me? I knew I had some connections, but I wasn't aware that anyone would be willing to step up like this for me, especially against another 'Family'.

Harry smiled at me, and then said, "If you truly think about it, you will be able to figure out who your benefactor is, but I will not speak of them. If you wish to seek them out yourself, that is fine, but I was asked not to offer the information. They also said that if you wish to leave it at that, they will understand. There is no obligation to what they have done for you."

Swallowing past the lump in my throat I said, "Thank you Harry. I really don't know what to say. But thank you for letting me know."

Harry stood and took my hand as I stood with him, kissing my knuckles he said, "I must go, but it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope to see you again some time in the near future."

I smiled at him and nodded, "I hope so to." I walked Harry out to the lobby and watched as he collected his weapons from his bodyguards and made his way to his car, pulling away from the curb within minutes.

I honestly didn't know what to think. Knowing that Morelli had been taken care of, was a bit of a shock, and the hit was called off was enough in itself, but that someone had felt the need to make sure that I was taken care of was amazing. Stunned, I walked to the elevator, offering a slight wave to Binkie on the way, and planned to get back to work. However once I made it to the fifth floor and the doors opened, a loud roar like cheer went up and I was engulfed into a huge crowd of large men, all giving me hugs and telling me how proud they were of me. I couldn't help but smile at them.

**Ok, so who do you think Steph's mysterious benefactor is? Hmmm. I bet it's not who you think it is. I hope you enjoyed this installment. Yes, Morelli met a terrible death, but in this instance he deserved it. Please let me know what you thought of this one. I look forward to hearing your opinion. Thanks again for reading and more to come next week. **


	5. Chapter 5

Pictures 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just have fun with them.**

**This one was a request that kind of took on a life of its own. I didn't intend for it to come out so sad in the end, but it did. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Wow! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the first entry of 'Pictures'. I am still floored. This has turning out to be a sad (emotional) story, but I promise it is getting happier. Steph just has a lot to work through. Please let me know what you think of this update as well. This has been an interesting journey so far.**

It had only been a day since I met with Harry and I wanted to get out of the building. It was the first time that I knew I could go out without having the need for a body guard, because of the price on my head, and all of the gossip going around about me. The guys had insisted that I not leave the building without a shadow, or rather two or three, depending on where I was going. I had been wanting out of the building on my own the last few days. It was funny really, they went from wanting me to go outside to get some sun, then, when I wanted to go out, they wanted me to stay in or to have several guards with me.

I guess I shouldn't complain, they wanted to make sure that I was safe, but there were times when I just needed to be alone. Today, however, I wanted to go to the park, but I wanted Lester to tag along. We needed to talk and I needed to let him know exactly how much I appreciated everything that he had done for me. That they had all done for me.

Everything that had happened in the past few weeks had changed many things about me. Sometimes it funny what really makes you take a look at your life and realize who your true friends are. I always thought that no matter what my family had said or done that they loved me, but it was never more clear to me than recently that the love of my blood relatives, with the exception of my Grandma Mazur, was conditional. The Merry Men had never put conditions on how they loved me. Most of them were like brothers to me, some were a bit more to me than that, but we all knew that we would die for each other.

Les, above all the others was always there as a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, and the hot poker when I needed to be pushed to get off my ass. He had made sure that I knew he was there for me and that denial land was not going to work for me any more. His smile brightened my day, and his arm around my shoulder made me feel at home in any situation. He was also the first to defend me when someone would speak badly about me. None of the guys ever liked to hear people put me down, but Les was the one who not only gave me the strength to do what I needed, but he was there when words failed me.

Sitting on the park bench near the pond, we watched the ducks swimming and just enjoyed the sunlight for a while. His arm around my shoulder and my head tilted on his shoulder, it was the most comfortable I had felt outside the walls of Rangeman in a long time. Taking a deep breath I broke the silence, "Thank you."

He placed a kiss on my hair, "For what? I didn't do anything." He replied.

"Yes you have, and you know it." I said softly. "You have done more for me the last few weeks than anyone has ever done. You were my rock Les. All the guys were there too, but, you were the one that I could go to if I needed to cry, you were the one who told me I needed to get myself back together, to feel again. Without you, I don't know what I would have done. So, thank you."

"Any one of us would have done it, I'm just glad that you allowed me to be the one to support you. Emotions can be a scary thing, especially when dealing with women." I socked him in the side for that comment, and he chuckled. Leave it to Les to make everything a joke. "Hey, it's true. Ok, not just because you are a woman, but because if you keep them bottled up for too long they can cause a lot of issues, both physically and mentally. You had all of us worried there for a while Beautiful." He paused looking straight out into the water, "At one point I thought that you would never be the same again. That we had lost the one person that had accepted us all, no questions asked. I feared that you would allow Morelli to win."

I took a deep breath, "I was worried about that too. I'm sure that if it wasn't for you and the guys that I would not be sitting here with you right now." I paused, "Over the last few weeks I took a really good look at my relationship with Morelli, and I can honestly say that I am disappointed in myself. I know I'm not to blame for all of this, that it was him and his greed and ego, but there were definitly signs if I had looked closely enough. But I guess that hindsight is twenty twenty. Part of me didn't want to know what was going on, but the other part was used to hearing what he was telling me. I had heard it all my entire life from my mother; I was never good enough for her. So I guess when you are used to hearing it, somehow it just seems to be acceptable, or maybe just not out of the ordinary to hear someone else tell you the same thing. I'm just pissed that I didn't trust my instincts. I knew there was something wrong and I ignored it. I listened to what my family and the burg' told me was the right thing." I looked up into his green eyes and saw pain there; I smiled slightly and said, "I'll never do that again. I've finally realized that when I follow my gut, I've been right one hundred percent of the time. This situation just reinforced that when I don't listen disaster happens."

He looked at me for a few minutes before he spoke, "You are the strongest woman that I know. Honestly, you are stronger than most men I know. You've been through so much in such a short time, and you always find your way back to who you truly are. That's a gift you know. Any normal person would have crumbled after the first kidnapping, but you just pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Sure maybe you take a day or two to breakdown and get the emotions out, but when you're done you are right back at it, with even more determination than before. You are one of a kind Stephanie Plum, and I am honored to call you family."

I looked at the man in front of me, he knew practically everything about me, the entire burg' knew about the details of my life, hell there were no secrets here, or so everyone thought. But Les, he truly knew who I was and he accepted me, scars and all. "Les, you and the guys are my family. I know that they say you can't pick who your relatives are, but I have chosen one of the best families I could imagine. You, and everyone of the Merry Men, and of course my Grandma Mazur are the most important people in my life. I love all of you, and I would do anything for you."

He kissed my forehead and we stared off into the park for a while before he spoke again, "I heard a song the other day that reminded me of you. I think that it fits you perfectly and I think that when we get back to the building you should listen to it. It's your anthem Beautiful." I looked up at him with a questioning gaze. "It's called 'Stronger', by Kelly Clarkson. If you really listen to it, you'll understand what I mean." I just nodded at him and stood.

We walked the path around the pond and were in our own little world when we heard a squeal of delight heading our way. I looked around for the cause of the noise and saw my niece Mary Alice running towards us. I hadn't seen her since before the pictures arrived. She was running full out heading right towards me with the biggest grin I had ever seen on her face.

"Aunt Steph. Aunt Steph." Mary Alice yelled as she launched herself at me. She caught me at an awkward angle and we almost went down to the ground, if it hadn't been for Les we would have been.

I hugged her tight, a tear escaping my eye, "Hey M.A. How are you?" I said into her hair.

"I've missed you so much Aunt Steph." She said as she hugged me tight to her.

When she finally released me I looked into her face and saw the happy tears streaming down her face. "I wanted to make sure you were ok, but mom wouldn't let me call. She said you needed to have time to yourself. Are you ok?"

"I'm good, but I'm even better now that I've seen you M.A." We walked over to the nearest park bench and she filled us in on what she had been up to lately. Apparently she was getting horse back riding lessons instead of dance lessons. At least my sister was doing a better job accepting her daughters' differences, than our mother had been. Val and I may have our differences, but the one thing she said she would never do was treat he daughter the way mom had treated me. "It sounds like you've been keeping busy. Maybe one of these days I can come watch you ride." I smiled at her.

She nodded excitedly and we talked a bit more as I looked around the park to see who had brought her, but seeing no sight of my sister or our mother. "Aunt Steph, I wanted to tell you before," she looked in my eyes with a serious look on her face, "I love you Aunt Steph. No matter what anyone says about you, you're my hero." She said and hugged me tighter.

"I love you too M.A." I said as tears rolled down my face. "I'll always be here for you." I said into her ear.

"Some of the kids at school were talking about you. The boys talked like it was your fault. But I knew it wasn't, and so do all the other girls Aunt Steph. All the girls in my class have started a fan club, you are the first girl to ever stand up against what we are being told, and we all support you. We want to be just like you when we grow up." She beamed at me.

I was stunned to say the least. I looked at Les and he was smiling from ear to ear. "See, even the younger generation knows how cool you are." He laughed, but his eyes showed exactly how serious he was.

M.A. went on, "The boys try to pick on us, but when they see that they have to take us all on they run away with their tales between their legs. It's the funniest thing. We almost got sent to the principles office the other day, but when our teacher heard what was going on, oh boy, did those mean boys get it." She laughed.

I laughed with her, "As long as you're not getting into any fights."

She shook her head no, "We were talking about trying to jump off the roof and seeing if we could fly like you did, but as soon as Chelsea started to climb the lattice she got in trouble, so we either need to find a different place to do it, or we'll have to be real sneaky." I heard Les laugh next to me.

"M.A, you do realize I wore a cast for six weeks after I did that right?" I asked her trying to figure out a way to talk her out of it without squashing her wishes.

She tilted her head to the side, "Well, maybe we should wait until the winter time. That way we won't miss out on swimming." I smiled at her.

"That might be a better idea." I looked up to take another look around and noticed that my father was walking towards us. That must have been who brought M.A to the park.

"Mary Alice, there you are. I've been looking for you." He said. He looked at me and smiled. "Hey there Pumpkin, how are you?" He was looking me up and down, what he was looking for I wasn't quite sure.

"I'm good." I turned to M.A. "Hey kiddo, why don't you go play and I'll talk to you later ok? I'll give you a call later this week alright?"

She looked at me, "You promise? I've really missed you." She said sadly.

I nodded. "I promise. Maybe your mom will let me take you to the movies or something. Go have fun while I talk to grandpa."

Les stood and offered to go play with her for a bit to give us some privacy. I smiled at him in thanks.

Once Les and M.A were far enough away he asked, "How are you really Steph? I haven't heard anything from you. I know you spoke with your mother." He paused. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry." He said as he sat on the bench with me.

I watched as Mary Alice played on the structure keeping an eye on me and smiled at her. "I've been better, but each day is getting easier." I replied.

"I know you had your reasons for not returning my phone calls, but I wanted to let you know that I want to be there for you if you need anything." He said sadly.

I turned to look at him. "I couldn't talk to you or anyone about what happened really. But, you wouldn't have been someone I would have gone to anyway. I have all the help I need at Rangeman. The guys have been really supportive. They let me have my space, but gave me the kick in the butt when I needed one."

I heard him sign, "I heard what you said to your mother and I think that she better understands what she did to you. I'm only sorry it took her this long to understand it." He tried to explain.

"She may be my mother, but I can never trust her, or accept what she says about me. I'll never be what she wants, because that was never, and will never, be me. Until she accepts that, I have nothing to say to her." I replied.

"I can understand that, but why would you think that you couldn't come to me?" He sounded hurt.

I looked at him for moment before I responded. I didn't want to be mean, but I didn't know how else to phrase it, "Why would I go to someone when I was hurting that was never there to support me before?"

He looked as though I had slapped him. He wasn't angry, a bit resigned I guess would be an apt description. "You never told her to stop; you never said anything to support what I wanted. You sat there, day after day, night after night, year after year and let her talk to me that way. Why would I come to you when someone that hurt me just as bad if not worse than she had my entire life?"

He hung his head after looking at me for a while, "I always thought that you knew you could come to me, no matter what. That's what a father is for."

"A mother and father are supposed to love their children unconditionally. All she ever did was put conditions on her love and you never said anything. All I heard when I was growing up was how horrible a daughter I was and how big an embarrassment I was from her, but from you I heard nothing. I know emotions are not something that our family has ever been good at, but a simple 'I love you' every once in a while would have gone a long way. I never heard that from either one of you." I said sadly. "God no wonder I suck at relationships." I said shaking my head.

"I always thought that there was something wrong with me for my own parents not to love me." I paused. "The only ones to ever tell me they loved me when I was growing up were Grandma and Grandpa Mazur, and when Grandpa died, only Grandma. They were the only ones to ever love me for me." I stated.

"That's not true Steph. I have always loved you and have always been proud of you. I love how free spirited you were then and now, always pushing the envelope, not folding to the pressures of the burg'. I guess I just thought that you knew how I felt." He tried to explain.

"I don't know how I could have, when the words were never said." I said flatly. "The only ones in my adult life to tell me that they truly love me are the guys at Rangeman. Sometimes I wonder what they see in me, because they treat me like I'm something special. I thank god every day that they have opened up their hearts and accepted me, because I have never known love like they give me."

My dad had tears streaming down his face now. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you." He said while looking at the play structure. "I wish I could go back and change it."

"Just make sure that you let your grandchildren know that they are loved, because they will never forget it if they have to go through what I did. You can't change the past, but you can move forward and learn from it. I know that I have." I said.

"And what have you learned." He asked.

"I now know who my true friends and family are. I know that just because you are born into a family doesn't mean that you are accepted by them, and that if you are lucky enough to find a place that you are accepted for who you are," I paused and looked at him, "never let it go. I wouldn't give up my chosen family for anything."

I saw him swallow, and close his eyes before he spoke again, "And what of your other family?"

I turned away from him looking into the distance. I waited to think how best to answer. Was I truly cutting out my entire family? No, I would be there for my nieces, and Grandma Mazur. Was I going to talk to my mother again? At this point no, she hadn't done anything to prove that she accepted me for who I am, she still criticized me. Would I cut my dad out? I wasn't sure, he'd never been there for me, but he acted like he wanted to be now. Could I trust him? I didn't know at this point, but in all honesty, time would be the true test. I looked at him again and said "I'm still trying to figure that out. I do know that I can tell you that a simple sorry doesn't make up for the years I spent thinking that I didn't matter to you. Maybe in time I could trust you, but as of this moment, I don't. I'm not giving up, but then again I'm not going to welcome you into my life with open arms only to be tossed to the curb the minute things get difficult."

He nodded his acceptance since it was the best I could give him at the moment. "I do love you Pumpkin. I always have, I just hope you'll let me prove it to you." After a moment he cleared his throat and said, "I better get Mary Alice home, we were only supposed to be here an hour. I'll talk to you soon Pumpkin. Take good care of yourself." He gave me a kiss on the cheek squeezed my hand and walked off towards where Mary Alice was playing.

Les walked towards me and as soon as he reached me he wrapped his arms around me. "You going to be ok Beautiful?"

I inhaled his scent and let the feel of his arms sooth me, once I was relatively under control I replied; "Only time will tell Les, only time will tell."

**So, what do you think. I hope you liked it. I didn't want Frank to get off the hook easily. Hey silent support isn't always support in my opinion. Let me know what your thoughts are. More to come next week. **


	6. Chapter 6

Pictures 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just have fun with them.**

**This one was a request that kind of took on a life of its own. I didn't intend for it to come out so sad in the end, but it did. I hope you enjoy it. **

**Wow! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the entries of 'Pictures'. I am still floored. This has turning out to be a sad (emotional) story, but I promise it is getting happier. Steph just has a lot to work through. Please let me know what you think of this update as well. This has been an interesting journey so far.**

I got a phone call today from Mary Lou asking me to go shopping with her, and for the first time in a while I was actually excited about going. I hadn't been to the mall in a while, but then again, I hadn't had a reason to shop in quite sometime either. Shopping used to be my cure all, but I hadn't found any desire to attempt any new purchases, even if it was shoes. I never thought I would ever turn down the chance to buy shoes, but I was going out now, and watch out shoppers, I'm on a mission today.

Pulling into the parking lot I noticed a space right in front, and laughed to myself. 'Well, maybe my luck was changing, either that or it's the fact I'm driving a Rangeman SUV.' Pulling into the space and killing the engine I look up at the building in front of me and stared. I had to give myself a pep talk, 'stay calm', 'don't worry about what other people think', 'you are your own person', 'no one has the right to criticize your life'. I kept chanting that over and over until there was a slight tap on the window. Turning towards the noise I smiled at Mary Lou.

Opening the car door and stepping out she said to me, "Geeze Steph, I thought you were going to sit there all day. Come on, I want to get some shopping done." She gave me a big hug and then proceeded to drag me into the mall. Even if I had changed my mind I don't think that I would have been able to get away from her. The woman had a tighter grip on my arm than any of the Merry Men ever did. I knew I'd have bruises later today.

I laughed at her, "Mar, you need to loosen up the grip a bit, I'm not going to run the other direction. I want to shop; I just needed to remind myself of a few things. I actually have a reason to shop today." I smiled at her and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Oh, and what would that reason be?" She asked.

"I want to go dancing this weekend. I need a kick ass outfit and some shoes to match." I offered her my brightest smile.

The smile that lit her face was the biggest that I had ever seen on her. She stopped dead in her tracks and grabbed me up in a bear hug. After a minute she whispered "Welcome back Steph."

"Thanks." I said grabbing on to her just as tight. When I released her and stepped back I could see the tears in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and this time I pulled her into the mall. I was never good at dealing with emotions, and she knew that, but we had just shared something that said a lot more than any words could express.

We headed directly for Macys' and got our shop on. I felt so carefree; it was a new feeling for me. We laughed, joked, tried on some of the most hideous dresses just to see what the other was willing to put on. I think I won out though when Mary Lou produced a neon pink and lime green spandex number that looked somewhere along the lines of the hooker outfit Julia Roberts wore at the beginning of _Pretty Woman_. The colors were horrible, but the dress showed off my shape amazingly well. I guess that's what happens when you don't eat all the sweets, or even the regular meals that I usually do. My stomach was flat; there was no extra bulge anywhere. I guess the Hungarian genes that my mom gave me were good for something.

At that thought I was momentarily saddened, but I quickly pushed all thoughts of my mother away. Mary Lou came out of the dressing room wearing a zebra striped halter dress that flared at the hips and had a crinoline under skirt, a large fuchsia flower on her right shoulder. Whoever came up with these dresses needed to go back to fashion school!

"Oh wow Steph, you look hot. I hate the colors, but that dress, wow it really shows off your shape." Mary Lou said smiling at me.

"Well thank you, but I think that zebra print brings out the highlights in your hair." At that we both flew into a fit of giggles and noticed that we were starting to get some rather irritated glares from other shoppers. "Alright, how about we try on something for real now?" I snickered.

"Try on that black and white one that I found for you. I bet you look hot in it." Mary Lou exclaimed. I just nodded and put the dress on she suggested.

When I finally had it zipped up and looked in the mirror I caught my breath. The dress fit like a dream. The main portion of the dress was white, with two big black diamonds sewn into the dress at the waist. The points met at the belly button and wrapped around the back to marry the points together there as well. The cap sleeves and scoop neckline showed off enough cleavage that it was seductive, without being slutty. The hem of the dress ended about four inches above the knee and the entire dress was skin tight, but since it included some spandex in the mix of fabric there was some give for easy movement. It took me a moment to realize that I was staring at myself.

"Steph, come on out here already, I want to see it." Mary Lou hollered. I finally exited my room and she gasped. "It's gorgeous. It's perfect for you." She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"It's total outside of what I would usually wear." I said as I looked back in the mirror. "But I love it. Something about it makes me feel like I could do anything." I commented mainly to myself.

"Steph, you can do anything and this dress is only going to prove to everyone that this is the 'New Stephanie Plum'. The one who isn't going to take any shit that everyone seems to throw at her, the one that doesn't care what others say, and knows that her true friends know the truth and will always be there for her." She looked me in the eye and stated, "This is you Stephanie. It has always been you; it just took you a while to find that out for yourself."

I looked back in the mirror and stared at my reflection. I knew she was right; it just took me a while to figure it out. Lots of heartache, and yes even some despondence, but in the end I think I'm doing good and getting stronger everyday.

I must have been staring at myself for a little while because the next thing I knew she was coming out of her dressing room in her own clothes and sat down on the couch in the dressing room. "You know that the women of the burg' are jealous of you don't you?" My head snapped in her direction and a look of disbelief must have crossed my face. "It's true." She paused. "You know what's expected of the women here in the burg' and you chose to follow your own path. You have always gone your own way when it came to your career and who you associate with. Most of the girls we went to high school with followed along like the little lemmings that they are and did what was expected of them. They see you living your life how you want to, and then look at themselves, most of them don't like what they see." She paused again looking down at her hands. "Most of them feel like they need to put you down for your choices, just to make themselves feel better."

"It's a shame really, that people can't just be happy with the life that they have chosen. We all have to live with the choices that we make, good or bad, those are the consequences of our actions. Instead they have the need to cut others down to build their own lives up." She looked up at me again, straight in the eyes, "You are living the dream Steph, a dream that most of the girls we grew up with wish they could have. Don't change that for anything. Live your life for yourself and no one else, because in the long run you are the one who has to live with the choices, not them."

I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. "Are you happy with your life Mar?" I asked her.

"Yes. I've always loved Lenny and we wanted to have a family. That's what I got. Are there things that I would have done differently looking back? Sure. Would I change the major decisions I've made in my life? No. I love my boys, I love my husband, and I love my best friend." Mary Lou stated with finality.

I smiled at her, "I'm glad to hear it, because I love you too." I said as I stepped over to give her a hug. "Thank you for always being there for me."

"You're a different kind of girl than the rest of us Steph, and I get to be the lucky one who gets to share in your triumphs, as well as your low points. I wouldn't have it any other way." She said wiping the tears from her eyes. "Now, let's get that dress for you and go find some shoes." She winked at me then said, "And I desperately need a trip to Victoria's Secret." We laughed all the way to the shoe department where we found the perfect pair of 4" black sling back FMPs to coordinate with my dress.

Walking to Victoria's Secret we received some interesting stares since we were laughing so hard. We had just walked by the fountain at the center of the mall and saw Joyce walking our direction. When she saw us she headed our direction at a very fast pace, face red as a cherry tomato and mouth pinched so tight that it looked like she had been sucking on a lemon. As she neared us, she opened her mouth to say something when a little boy, about three or four years of age, ran right into her full speed, and knocked her into the fountain, where she was completely submerged, arms and legs flailing everywhere causing water to splash everywhere.

Mary Lou and I stopped and gawked for a moment, then looked at each other before breaking into hysterical laughter. The little boy was perfectly fine, and not a drop of water was on him, but Joyce on the other hand, when she stood up, you could see everything, and I do mean 'everything'. The thin white cotton tank top and the thin pale pink shorts that she wore were completely transparent. She had no bra or patties on and the view left nothing to the imagination. There was an uproar that had started as soon as she stood up by the mothers of smaller children in the area and security was there in a matter of minutes, pulling Joyce out of the fountain and calling the police. It sounded like they were going to have her arrested for indecent exposure and disturbing the peace.

That only made us laugh harder. We could hear Joyce wailing as they lead her away and we continued on our intended path. It really had turned out to be a rather entertaining day, and I wasn't covered in anything.

Our trip through the lingerie store was fairly quick, but we each came out with a large bag in hand and big smiles on our faces. We slowly walked back towards the fountain, where we saw there were still a few officers milling around trying to take statements of what occurred. At that moment Mary Lou's phone rang and after a short conversation hung up.

"Hey, Mikey is sick and I need to pick him up from school. I have to go, but let me know the time and location and I'll go dancing with you this weekend. I can't wait." She hugged me and we said goodbye, then she walked quickly toward her car.

I sat down on one of the lounge chairs by the fountain and just watched the water spill over the different levels and let the sound of the tricking water wash over me. For some reason water had always had a soothing affect on me. Whether it be taking a shower, bath, sitting at the beach watching the waves roll in, or even the simple sounds of a trickling fountain I always felt a calmness wash over me.

I don't know how long I had been sitting there, but I felt a hand lightly touch my shoulder and looked up at the person attached to it and saw Eddie. I smiled at him and stood to give him a hug.

He hugged me back and held on to me for a little while. "How are you Steph?" He asked before he released me.

"Good. How about you Eddie?" I said

He looked at me with a sad smile on his face and then said, "Can we go somewhere to talk?" I saw a look of sadness cross his face before I responded, as if he expected me to say no.

"Sure, I could use a coffee or something. Mary Lou and I have been shopping for a while and I'm really thirsty." I smiled at him picking up my bags and then walking with him to the food court.

After getting our drinks we sat at the same table that I had originally sat in with Connie just a few weeks ago. We sat down and it took a few minutes for either of us to break the silence.

Eddie spoke first, but if I hadn't been looking at him when he said it I would have missed it, "I'm so sorry for everything Steph. I wish I could have done something to help you. I know you've been hurting, but I just didn't know what to do to make things any better for you. And when I called and you never called back I figured that you were never going to forgive me." Eddie hung his head in defeat.

I took a deep breath and exhaled before I responded. "I didn't want to talk to anyone for a while really. I needed time to absorb what had happened. It took me a while to forgive myself for missing all the signs. Once I could do that, I could look at things a bit differently. It forced me to look at everything in my life, not just my relationship with him. Everything changed for me Eddie; it was suddenly very obvious to me what everyone thought of me and how they treated me." I looked at him.

"There are those who I will never forgive for their actions, or lack there of, you could say. There are also those that it will be easier to forgive than others, it will just take me some time." I said to him honestly.

"I know I let you down. I heard what you said to Carl, and I agree with you one hundred percent. There never should have been any betting on your life. We should have stuck up for you with how he treated you, there are lots of things that we should have done for you. I can only hope that you will let me continue to be a part of your life. You're one of my best friends Steph. It may not have seemed like it over the last few years, but you are. You'll never know just how sorry I am for everything." Eddie spoke quietly.

"Yeah, I know that you could have been a better friend, and certainly in some instances, you should have been a better friend, but one of the things that you did that no one else did was you were there when I needed a ride, or information. You always made sure that I was ok, no matter what was going on. That's far more than most people did. Yes, you made jokes and bets, but once you made your comments you moved on, you didn't continue to rub it in." I said to him. I saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"I can't say that I've forgiven you for the things that you did do, but Eddie, you and I have known each other since kindergarten, we've been through a lot together. Almost as much as what I've been through with Mary Lou, if there was anyone that I would every be more willing to forgive it would be you. The only thing that you need to keep in mind is that I'm not the same person that you used to know. So you need to think about whether or not you can accept that." I looked him in the eye before I continued. "I won't be around the burg' that much any more. I don't plan on living where people I once thought I could trust, but proved me wrong on several fronts live. I don't need to hear people talk about me in hushed tones and give me funny looks, and I certainly will not be walking the other direction if anyone wants to confront me. I'm not a doormat, or a laughing stalk. It's time people understood that."

"But you're not moving away are you?" Eddie asked.

"No, currently I have no plans to move out of Jersey, but I won't rule it out as a possibility in the future. It all depends on what happens. I want to build a relationship with my dad, something that I never had before, really. I want to be around for Grandma Mazur. I'd miss the Merry Men, Connie, Mary Lou and you if I left, but I won't say that it will never happen. The future is too unsure to make such big statements." I replied.

"I can understand that." He paused and looked down at the table, "Shirley said to tell you she hopes things get better for you." He looked up and I must have worn a look of shock. He laughed at me, "She has always looked up to you. You were wild, while she was a Susie homemaker type. She wanted to be just like you when we were younger, but she didn't know how to do it. I know that she loves me, but sometimes I can see a look in her eyes, a look that I think I'm finally going to do something about. I know that she loves me, but I also know that there is more that she wants to do than just be at home with the kids."

I smiled at him. "I think she would like that. You two were always really good at reading what the other thought or wanted. Tell her I said I'm good, but getting stronger everyday." I paused. "I'm getting a group together to go dancing on Saturday, would you and Shirley be interested in joining us?"

A look of sheer joy crossed his face. "Yeah, that would be great." I saw some of the tension that had radiated through his body recede and an easy conversation continued on for a while. We sat in the food court until Eddie got a call to head back into the station and we both headed out.

Today had been a funny and fulfilling day. I got to spend the morning with my best friend, watch the woman I hated most in the world go down because she wasn't 'aware of her surroundings', and then was finally able to have a discussion with Eddie. Things were finally looking up for me. With all of the rough times that I had had in the last few years, I was finding that as I continue to grow and change, so do some of the people that I hold dear to me. Maybe one of the things that I was most afraid of was outgrowing the people that I held dear to me. The rest didn't really matter, but there were people that I knew I absolutely didn't want to live without, and I didn't have to.

Yeah today had been a really good day, I just hoped that they kept getting better and better.

**So, sorry about the delay in posting, with Girl Scout Cookie Sales, T-ball, swimming and Girl Scout meetings for my daughter, and Boy Scouts for my son and the end of the trimester for their school things had gotten rather hectic and I wasn't able to get anything written out.**

**Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last update. Your support and comments mean more than you could imagine. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Pictures 7**

**Disclaimer: I don't own them; I just have fun with them.**

**Wow! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the entries of 'Pictures'. I am still floored. This has turning out to be a sad (emotional) story in the beginning, but I promised it gets happier, and here is some happy. Please let me know what you think of this update as well. This has been an interesting journey for me to take with her and it is finally complete. I hope you like it. **

It had been two weeks since my trip to the mall with Mary Lou. My dress was still hanging in the closet, untouched but ready to be worn at any time. Things had gotten very busy at Rangeman and none of us were able to take any time to really enjoy ourselves in a group setting. The number of FTA's had tripled, and there had been a string of break ins, a sign that people were still enduring hard times and were getting desperate. We had all agreed to wait until things slowed down a bit so when we went out to celebrate we could all enjoy ourselves to the fullest.

I had used the last two weeks to my advantage though. I may have been busy, but I still had sometime to spend with my dad to get to know him better. He would meet me at the diner just down the street from Rangeman and we would have lunch, or dessert in the late evening after my shift. I realized a few things about my dad over this time and really thought how sad he must be.

His life had not turned out the way that he had intended it, but he had made do. He had confessed over a few days that my mother, even though he married her, was not the love of his life. When he looked at me and explained that I was I really didn't understand.

After explaining that my mother forced him, after they married, to not resign with the Army once she got pregnant with Valerie, things had changed for him. He felt the need to support his wife and be there, but he still had to finish his contract with the Army at the time. I was floored really. She married him when he was in the Army, so this didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Apparently, she was not very understanding of his desires and commitments, and made things miserable for him until his time was up. Then things started to settle down once he was around more. When she became pregnant with me, for some reason she became even more controlling.

At first, as he explained it, he thought it was the pregnancy hormones, since he wasn't around for much of the pregnancy with Val. Her entire personality had changed, and he didn't know what to do. She was never physically violent with him, but apparently she treated him the way that she has always treated me.

I knew all too well what that treatment felt like. He shut down completely, and from that point on he never really said much. It wasn't like he could get a divorce, or leave, he had two children he was responsible for. He never really saw or heard all the horrible things she said to me, when I was growing up, but he said he knew deep down that she was taking her frustrations and anger out on me. He felt powerless to stop it, because he was constantly reminded by his mother and his wife, that it was a woman's place to raise their girls.

I remembered back to my childhood and thought of the few times I really spent any time with my dad. He taught me how to work on a car, ride a bike, and spit. But along with those few memories I can hear my mother yelling at me and then my father for showing me these things.

My dad thought that by stepping back and allowing her to take over he would be lessening the punishment that I would get from my mother. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. As I got older her words became more and more mean and hurtful, as she became bolder and bolder to say them in front of my dad since he wouldn't say anything. Neither one of us think she ever heard what she said herself, but that didn't excuse her actions.

We had a long talk about the recording that I made of her yelling at me. He knew that I had threatened to play it for the entire burg to hear, but hadn't done it, at least not yet. My mother had changed for a few days, but eventually went right back to her old ways, blaming me for everything that went wrong in her life, regardless of me being around.

Dad had also informed me that he was thinking of leaving my mother finally, 'something I should have done a long time ago kiddo.' When he said that, I was so happy for him, just like I had, he was taking back his life. At one time I think I would have been sad to hear that my parents were splitting up, but now, I was just glad he was willing to take that step for himself. My dad deserved someone who loved him, for who he was, not someone who wanted to change and manipulate the person that they claimed to love. We both deserved that, and I'm glad that I could help my father take that next step. I offered him my apartment if he did leave, explaining that the guys had been trying to talk me into moving in permanently to Haywood. I had agreed to give up my apartment, but hadn't decided where I was going to end up yet. Only Tank knew what I was really thinking.

None of the guys had been pleased with my declaration that I might go away for a time, but when I explained that I needed to know that I could do it on my own for a while, I would eventually come back. I had been saving up money since this whole ordeal happened and had stashed away a good sum so that I could travel and just think. I didn't have a timeframe in mind, or a destination for that matter, but I knew it might be soon. My dad understood where I was coming from, even though he didn't want me to leave, but he would support me in anything that I wanted to do, no matter what. I just had to promise to keep in touch so he knew that I was ok.

Another person that I had decided to visit would probably surprise most people I was friends with. I borrowed Lula's firebird and left my trackers at home, because I needed to see this person without a shadow. After dinner with Lula one night, I decided to head to a house that I had not been to in quite sometime. It was dark in the neighborhood, but the porch light was on. I had called earlier and let him know that I was coming over.

Parking in the rounded driveway I sat and stared at the house. The last time I had been here he had shot at me. The situation was different then, and I would do it all over again, but we had come to an understanding over a period of time. We would do anything for those we considered our family, end of story.

Walking up to the door I didn't even have to knock. The front door opened as I stepped up the last step and he opened his arms to give me a big hug. I went right into them and smiled into his chest. He released me a second later and returned my smile, closing the door behind me.

"Glad you could come see me." I could hear the happiness in his voice.

"I would have come sooner, but, well, things haven't exactly been going that well these past months." I gave him a sad smile.

He pulled me into the family room and poured us each a drink. He nodded his head in agreement and understanding. "But they are better now, right?"

"Yes, they are. And some of that is because of you." I smiled at him as I accepted the drink. He sat across from me on the couch.

"We take care of our family Steph. And we have looked at you as family since you befriended my father. You took care of him, and helped him when he needed it. Not many people would have done that. Especially when they knew who he was." He laughed.

"Yes, well, your father wouldn't have hurt me. He made me nervous at first, but once you've been asked to marry someone I think the silliness of the situation soothed away any fear." I replied smiling.

"He would still accept you as a wife if you ever changed your mind." He laughed.

"And how would you feel having me for a step mother Hannibal?" I smiled. "You never know, I could turn into the evil step mother."

We both laughed at that. "Never in a million years would I ever see you as evil."

After a few minutes of banter back and forth, I looked up at him and said, "I came to say thank you. I know what happened, and I can never than you enough for protecting me."

Hannibal sobered up immediately, "You are family Steph, and we protect our own, just like I said before. What was done was so far beyond what an honorable man would do that someone had to take a stand. I was only too happy to be that person. My family will always be here for you. You only have to ask for help or protection and it will be given without question. No family should attempt you any harm or otherwise."

"I only know of one other person who has ever done that for me. It's definitely humbling to realize someone has your back like that. And please know that I feel exactly the same way about all of you. I may not have the connections that you do, but if there is anything that I could ever do for you please let me know." I said with all seriousness. "If anything, this entire situation has let me know who I can and can not rely on, and in all honestly, I think that I have a wonderful group of people that I can turn to."

"I'm glad that you have people you can turn to for support. But can I ask you something?" He looked me in the eye, and at my nod he continued. "Do you have someone who you trust to let into your heart as you have let these others into your life. I know that you and Manoso are close, but I haven't heard anything about him being around in quiet a while."

It took a few deep breaths before I could respond. He deserved an answer, but not many people knew what was going on, and if I was truly honest I wasn't sure what was happening myself. "He has always been there for me. I think this is really the first instance that he has been gone while everything happened. I don't know where he is, and I don't know when he will be back, but as far as a relationship with him, he has told me over the years that he doesn't do them. And I can't do the casual thing, especially when there are more feelings involved for me."

"I think there is more than you are letting on Steph." Hannibal softly commented.

I nodded, "With everything that's happened, I guess I wondered if he knew what was going on. No one will tell me whether he is in the wind or just chose to leave town for reasons unknown." I paused to think about it a bit more, "He sent me back to Morelli before, and I guess that part of me is resentful that he sent me back to someone who was trying to destroy me. For all the times that he has saved me from danger, I think I'm angry with him for not seeing it, or saying something to me if he did. I suppose you could say that I kind of feel abandoned by him at the moment."

"I know it's not fair, but at least at the moment I can't help it. Ranger knows everything, you know? So how, out of everything did he not know about this? It's not rational or fair, but I can't help how I feel." I said sadly.

"I'm sure it doesn't help that you haven't seen him in months, but it will all work out in the end. Everything happens for a reason you know. You've worked at making yourself stronger the past few months, so don't slide backwards. Trust yourself." Hannibal explained.

After talking a while longer, we said our goodbyes and promises to keep in touch. I felt like a weight had been lifted from me. No one had thought to ask me, or make a comment about Ranger really; it was almost like a taboo topic. Hannibal was right though, I needed to get over my hurt feelings toward Ranger or I might ruin anything that we had, whether that be friendship or anything else.

XXXXXX

The night finally came where I was going to get my night out. All the men from Rangeman Trenton were going out on the town with me, Connie, Lula, Mary Lou and a few other friends. Eddie and Shirley were going to meet us at the club, grandma Mazur was going to be there, Sally Sweet, Mooner and Dougie plus a few others I had not seen in a while, but knew that they would always be my friends.

When Les knocked on the door of the apartment I opened it ready to go and get my groove on. I think I shocked him, his jaw dropped to the floor and he froze in place, not a muscle was twitching in his body, although I could see he was extremely happy to see me by the giant bulge in his pants.

I laughed, "That good huh Les? Thanks." I kissed his cheek and closed the door behind me and started to make my way down the corridor.

"Beautiful," I heard him gulp before continuing, "You're going to start a riot in that dress. Damn, you sure you don't want to just spend the night out with me?" He asked getting a hold of his control.

I looked over my shoulder at him as I stood waiting for the elevator, "Now really Les, you want to take all my fun away? I've wanted to go out dancing with everyone for a while now. You'll just have to wait your turn for an individual dance this evening. I promise it'll be good."

His eyes bugged out and he was quickly at my side. "You look like sin in that dress Beautiful, we are going to have to create a wall of muscle to keep the other guys away from you." He said then cleared his throat as we stepped onto the elevator. He placed his hand on my lower back and walked me to the car when we got to the garage. Everyone was already on their way. Les had said he wanted to walk me through the door and the guys had been more than happy to agree. They said this would be my re-entry to the world, the 'New Stephanie' was being introduced to the world and she deserved to make an entrance.

Arriving to the club, Les grabbed my hand and walked us to the front door where the bouncer moved the rope and allowed us thru to hoots, whistles and catcalls. The bouncer winked at me and gave him a nice smile in return.

Walking in the door and looking around, the place was huge, but our group was easy to find. Who wouldn't be able to find a group of muscular men like my Merry Men. They were all hot and sexy, and had their choice of women, but once they laid eyes on me any and all women were left in the dust. They all moved towards me and placed a kiss on my cheek, or gave me a hug.

Drinks were passed all around and the party started off with a bang. The music was pounding and everyone seemed to be having a good time. It wasn't until Cal was pulling me towards the dance floor that I realized what song had just come on, Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger". The song that Les had told me was my anthem just a few short weeks ago.

It only took a matter of seconds for Cal and I to get into the rhythm and begin to move together to the song. Our bodies moved effortlessly against each other. We were joined only minutes later by all my girls and guys and we took over the majority of the dance floor. I found Les at my back and Cal at my front; both were singing the song to me, pride shining in their eyes. God I loved these guys. They were right, 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stand a little taller'.* A lesson that I was surely never going to forget.

It felt like hours later that we were walking back to our seats to get refills of our drinks. Everyone had smiles on their faces, but I noticed that Tank and Bobby had their heads together off in the corner. I figured they had some business to talk about so I just focused on what was around me at the moment. We all laughed and joked; it was as if nothing had happened. These were all of my friends and I knew that no matter what, all of these people would have my back. I noticed that I got a few envious and evil looks from other women in the club, but I didn't really care. I was dancing with all my guys tonight and to hell with anyone who had any issues with that.

Towards the end of the evening Tank came up to me hugged me, placed a kiss on my forehead and then grabbed my hand as I heard the DJ coming over the sound system. "We've had a special request and a dedication to a very special lady in attendance this evening. We don't normally do this, but for this woman, we couldn't say no. Stephanie Plum, this one is for you."

The Merry Men had followed us down to the dance floor and formed a circle around Tank and I, allowing us enough room to move comfortably to whatever song they had chosen. The opening notes came on and the beat was a Cha Cha. I smiled at Tank and we started to move to the beat effortlessly. "Listen to the words too Steph. We mean everything they say."

_**You're insecure, don't know what for**_

_**You're turning heads when you walk through the do-o-or**_

_**Don't need make-up - to cover up**_

_**Being the way that you are is eno-o-ough**_

I was spun out of Tank's dance to Manny. He picked up right where Tank had left off moving to the grove of the song and pulling me close to him. He looked right in my eyes as we moved. They were shining with pride and love for me.

_**Everyone else in the room can see it**_

_**Everyone else but you**_

_**Baby you light up my world like nobody else**_

_**The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed**_

_**But when you smile at the ground,**_

_**it ain't hard to tell**_

_**You don't know **_

_**Oh oh**_

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

I was then passed to Hector and our hips moved to the beat without missing a beat. He glided me around the circle on the dance floor and spun me out and back to him before doing a cha cha roll. He caressed my body with is as we moved across the floor.

_**If only you saw what I could see**_

_**You'll understand why I want you so desperately**_

_**Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe**_

**You don't know **

**Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

**Oh oh**

**That's what makes you beautiful!**

I was then strutted away by Ram who was moving his hips right to the beat. Looking directly into my eyes and letting me know that he agreed with the song. I smiled up at him and let him see just how I felt about what they were trying to tell me.

_**So girl come on, you got it wrong**_

_**To prove I'm right I put it in a so-o-ong**_

_**I don't know why, you're being shy**_

_**And turn away when I look in to your eye eye eyes**_

**Everyone else in the room can see it**

**Everyone else but yo-ou**

Bobby stepped up and pulled me away and spun me away and around the circle again. We rocked together and moved with the beat of the song. We could hear the cheers and catcalls around us, but we were in our own little world.

**Baby you light up my world like nobody else**

**The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed**

**But when you smile at the ground, **

**it ain't hard to tell**

**You don't know **

**Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

Kissing my cheek Bobby passed me off to Cal who swept me up into the sexy moves of the Cha Cha. Who knew all these guys would know how to move so well. Their support meant the world to me and I knew by the way these guys were treating me they meant every word of this song. Cal glowed with pride at me when I looked up into his eyes as we moved.

**If only you saw what I can see**

**You'll understand why I want you so desperately**

**Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe**

**You don't know **

**Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

**Oh oh**

**That's what makes you beautiful!**

Hal, ever bashful, but has the moves of a Don Juan, glided me across the floor, in total control of where we were going and what we were doing. His face was not the red I would have imagined it would normally have been. He was calm and cool and knew what he could do to me and with me on that dance floor. He was agile, but seductive. I felt at home in his arms out there.

**Na na na na na na naaaa na na,**

**Na na na na na na.**

**Na na na na na na naaaa na na,**

**Na na na na na na.**

**Baby you light up my world like nobody else**

**The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed**

**But when you smile at the ground,**

**it ain't hard to tell**

**You don't know **

**Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

Zero pulled me from Hal's embrace and twirled me around the dance floor some more. There was heat in his eyes and I could see just how much he loved me. All these guys were showing me just what they felt for me, and for once I wasn't scared of what that meant. I loved them all and let them know it with my eyes as well.

**Baby you light up my world like nobody else**

**The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed**

**But when you smile at the ground, **

**it ain't hard to tell**

**You don't know **

**No Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

Binkie moved in behind me and we moved away from Zero. I had to smile at his tactics, he moved us around to the beat without looking at me. I knew he was nervous to dance with me, but he was like the younger brother I never had. Finally spinning me around to look at him he place a light kiss on my lips. I gave him a lazy smile and moved with him.

**If only you saw what I can see**

**You'll understand why I want you so desperately**

**Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe**

**You don't know **

**Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

**Oh oh**

Les grabbed my hand and Binkie spun out of the way. We danced around in each others arms and laughed as we did it. The man knew how to move and wasn't shy to show it. He twirled me out and back, rolled our hips and kissed me on the lips, my arms were around his neck once again.

**Baby you light up my world like nobody else**

**The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed**

**But when you smile at the ground, **

**it ain't hard to tell**

**You don't know **

**Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

**If only you saw what I can see**

**You'll understand why I want you so desperately**

**Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe**

**You don't know **

**No Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

Before I knew it I was twirled out of Les's arms and on to my next partner. Surprise couldn't have described it any better. We moved to the last few beats of the song effortlessly. Being pulled into his force field, up against all hard muscle was nothing knew, but this person had not been around in a long time.

**No Oh oh**

**You don't know you're beautiful!**

**No Oh oh**

**That's what makes you beautiful!**

Ranger. The song ended and the catcalls were coming from all around of us. The next song started to play and the dance floor started to fill up around all of us. The guys were clapping him on the back offering him a 'welcome home', but his eyes never left mine. He was searching for something I just didn't know what. The only thing he said to me with a small smirk was "Babe."

The End.

* Lyrics from 'Stronger' By Kelly Clarkson

"What Makes You Beautiful"

Performed by One Direction

**So let me know what you think? This is where this one ends. Let me know if you think there should be a sequel or not. This one was Steph's journey, Ranger really didn't have anything to do with this one. Based on the responses I get I may do a follow up.**


End file.
